15 cm sFH 13

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15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze 13
A sFH 13 at the U.S. Army Field Artillery Museum, Ft. Sill, OK
Type	heavy field howitzer
Place of origin	Germany
Service history
In service	1914-1945
Used by	German Empire  Belgium  Netherlands  Nazi Germany
Wars	World War I World War II
Production history
Designer	Krupp
Designed	1913
Variants	sFH 13 kurz lg.s.F.H.”13 lg.s.F.H.1913/02
Specifications
Weight	2,250 kg
Length	2.54 m
Barrel length	2.096 m L/17
Shell	separate-loading, cased charge (7 charges)
Caliber	150 mm
Breech	horizontal sliding block
Carriage	box trail
Elevation	-4° to +45°
Traverse	9°
Rate of fire	3 rpm
Muzzle velocity	381 m/s
Effective range	8,600 m (9,405 yds)

The 15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze 13 (15 cm sFH 13) was a heavy field howitzer used by Germany in World War I and World War II. Guns turned over to Belgium and the Netherlands as reparations after World War I were taken into Wehrmacht Heer service after the conquest of the Low Countries as the 15 cm sFH 409(b) and 406(h) respectively.

The British referred to these and their shells as "5 point 9"s or "5 9"s as the bore was 5.9 inches.

Variants were the original "kurz" (L/14 - 14 calibres short barrel version); later lg.s.F.H.”13 with a longer barrel; and lg.s.F.H.1913/02 with modifications to simplify wartime manufacture of the lg.s.F.H.

[edit] See also

• 6 inch 26 cwt howitzer
• List of artillery#Towed howitzers and field guns

[edit] In Literature

• Siegfried Sassoon expressed the British respect for this gun in his WWI poem Counter-Attack

[edit] References

• Englemann, Joachim and Scheibert, Horst. Deutsche Artillerie 1934-1945: Eine Dokumentation in Text, Skizzen und Bildern: Ausrüstung, Gliderung, Ausbildung, Führung, Einsatz. Limburg/Lahn, Germany: C. A. Starke, 1974
  
• Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter. Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945. New York: Doubleday, 1979 ISBN 0-385-15090-3
  
• Hogg, Ian V. German Artillery of World War Two. 2nd corrected edition. Mechanicsville, PA: Stackpole Books, 1997 ISBN 1-85367-480-X
• Ralph Lovett, 15cm. schwere Feld Haubitze 1913
• Ralph Lovett, 15cm. lang schwere Feldhaubitze 1913/02

German artillery of World War II

Tank & anti-tank guns 2 cm KwK 30 | 3.7 cm KwK 36 | 3.7 cm KwK 38(t) | 5 cm KwK 38 | 5 cm KwK 39 7.5 cm KwK 37 | 7.5 cm KwK 40 | 7.5 cm KwK 42 | 8.8 cm KwK 36 | 8.8 cm KwK 43 Anti-tank guns 2.8 cm sPzB 41 | 3.7 cm PaK 36 | 4.2 cm PaK 41 | 5 cm PaK 38 | 7.5 cm PaK 97/38 7.5 cm PaK 40 | 7.5 cm PaK 41 | 7.62 cm PaK 36(r) | 8 cm PAW 600 | 8.8 cm PaK 43 | 12.8 cm PaK 44 Infantry and Mountain guns 7.5 cm leIG 18/leGebIG 18/IG L/13 | 7.5 cm IG 37 | 7.5 cm IG 42 | 15 cm sIG 33 7.5 cm Geb K 15 | 7.5 cm GebG 36 | 10.5 cm GebH 40 Recoilless guns 7.5 cm LG 40 | 10.5 cm LG 40 | 10.5 cm LG 42 Field, Medium and Heavy guns 7.5 cm FK 16 nA | 7.5 cm FK 18 | 7.5 cm FK 38 | 7.5 cm FK 7M85 10.5 cm leFH 16 | 10.5 cm leFH 18 | 10.5 cm leFH 18M | 10.5 cm leFH 18/40 10 cm K 17 | 10.5 cm sK 18 | 10.5 cm sK 18/40 15 cm sFH 13 | 15 cm sFH 18 | 15 cm K 18 | 17 cm K 18 | 21 cm Mrs 18 Other vehicle mounted guns 7.5 cm PaK 39 | 7.5 cm PaK 40 | 7.5 cm PaK 42 | 8.8 cm PaK 43 | 12.8 cm PaK 44 Anti-aircraft guns 2 cm FlaK 30/38/Flakvierling | 3.7 cm FlaK 36/37/43 | 8.8 cm FlaK 18/36/37/41 | 10.5 cm FlaK 38 | 12.8 cm FlaK 40